HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Alize Lofton has a love of the game

When the topic of conversation is basketball, Lynwood High's Alize Lofton lights up like one of the scoreboards she's been wearing out lately.

"I love basketball," the 17-year-old said recently through a huge smile.

"It's in me. It's my goal to play every day. It's a thrill for me.

"Basketball is more than a sport," the normally reserved, quiet young lady continued. "It's something that keeps me going, it keeps me motivated, it keeps me out of trouble."

Lofton is the senior point guard for Lynwood, which will face Mountain View St. Francis for the CIF State Division 2 title at 2 p.m. today at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. At 6 feet, she's tall enough to see over defenders and post up smaller players. But she's also athletic enough to drive around them and effectively guard the opposition's post, like she did against 6-3, Stanford-bound Erica McCall of Bakersfield Ridgeview in last week's Southern Region final.

At any time during any game, Lofton can be found at the point, at shooting guard or in the paint, and she has a gift for driving to the basket and drawing fouls.

"Her versatility, that's the biggest key, the biggest asset to her game," said longtime Lynwood coach Ellis Barfield, who is going for his fourth state crown in five trips to the final. "As a coach, you've gotta love that. In our program, I definitely love versatility (the ability to) play multiple positions, do multiple things. And she's capable of doing those things and has no problem defending.

"There's the night Alize only scored maybe two points for the team," Barfield continued, "but she grabbed multiple rebounds, got multiple assists. Her presence, just being on the floor, (relieves) a lot of tension."

Lofton averages 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists, but seems to do her best work in the biggest games. She had 14 points and 17 rebounds in the Knights' CIF-SS Division 2AA final victory over J.W. North, and she had 16 points and 16 rebounds against Ridgeview, a victory that sent Lynwood to its first state final since 2003.

Because of her wide range of skills, Lofton draws plenty of defensive attention, which opens things up for teammates like 3-point specialist Priscilla Lopez, Nijala Johnson, Jazmine Johnson and post Amber Blockmon.

"She sets the table for her teammates and gets them the ball in the right spot," said Barfield. "She's definitely not a selfish player."

That was noticed early by Cal State Bakersfield, which began recruiting Lofton as a sophomore. She fulfilled a lifelong dream by signing a scholarship with the Roadrunners before the season began.

"They were there from Day 1," Lofton explained.

The Knights are now 28-5 and riding a 24-game winning streak. A season ago, Lynwood felt it had the talent to compete for the Division 2 state title, but suffered an early-round regional loss. This year, the Knights haven't been challenged in the regionals, winning by an average of over 22 points.

"Last year I felt like we fell a little short," Lofton admitted, "so we had that fire in us to bring it off this year."

St. Francis is 24-8 and making its first-ever trip to the final. The Lancers are the No. 1 seed from the North, and four of their losses came against Open Division qualifier Archbishop Mitty.

This season's CIF-SS Division 2AA title was Lynwood's second in a row, but the Knights haven't reached a state final in 10 years. A victory today would allow Lofton to be mentioned among the legends of Lynwood basketball like former McDonald's All-American Sade Wiley-Gatewood.

"It would be a blessing," she said, but she stopped well short of counting the game already won. "I just know I have to keep working, keep at it, keep (my) heart. It all starts from working. You have to work at it to do what you want to do."